Self-deliverance by a woman in labour is nowadays a very rare event. The authors report the case of a 24-year-old primipara and a newborn of 49 cm length and 2484 g body weight with a complex pattern of injuries on the head, neck, shoulder and back who had breathed for at least 15 to 30 minutes after birth and died from massive craniocerebral trauma and lesions in the oral and cervical region. As one of the experts considered it possible that the skull fractures were exclusively due to the self-deliverance, the woman was acquitted of the charge of manslaughter. This hypothesis is critically discussed on the basis of the presumable course of the delivery and the literature.
Self-deliverance by a woman in labour is nowadays a very rare event. The authors report the case of a 24-year-old primipara and a newborn of 49 cm length and 2484 g body weight with a complex pattern of injuries on the head, neck, shoulder and back who had breathed for at least 15 to 30 minutes after birth and died from massive craniocerebral trauma and lesions in the oral and cervical region. As one of the experts considered it possible that the skull fractures were exclusively due to the self-deliverance, the woman was acquitted of the charge of manslaughter. This hypothesis is critically discussed on the basis of the presumable course of the delivery and the literature.